Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012

Since The List are too scared of offending anyone...here is my unedited (but still incorrect) view of this year's festival:

After being renowned as the longest running film festival in the world, can this year's fest pick itself up after a disappointing 2011? This year's Edinburgh International Film Festival's new director Chris Fujiwara has promised the red carpets will once again be unrolled in an attempt to return the festival to its former glory. However it will continue with the altered format it developed last year, focusing on independent and international cinema rather than the Hollywood blockbusters that have been previewed in previous years, with the exception of a few films including its opening and closing features. So will this be a success? Last year's fest included no big-name films, and star appearances were minimal at best. This resulted in a large fall in ticket sales, and left more than a few regulars grumbling.

This year's festival will open on June 20th with William Friedkin's Killer Joe, a crime drama starring Emile Hirsch and Thomas Haden Church as a dim-witted father and son who conspire to kill their mother/wife in order to obtain insurance money. The festival will then run until July 1st, premiering Pixar's Brave as its main closing feature on June 30th. Starring the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thomson and Billy Connolly to name but a few, this will be a fitting end to the programme as it focuses on a courageous red-headed heroine living in the Scottish Highlands. The only other large production to be unveiled will be Dr Seuss' The Lorax, an animated version of the Seuss fable that has already done big business in the States, with voices provided by Danny DeVito, Zac Efron and Ed Helms. These features are no doubt an improvement on last year's dismal programme, but are they enough to keep punters interested?

New this year is the notion of 'Pathways', which aims to connect films through common themes. Some of these include 'Edge of the Law – films about the world of crime' and 'Community and Conflict – films on themes of power, responsibility and history'. I'm personally looking forward to the 'Pushing Boundaries' Pathway, described as 'films for the more daring and experimental film fan'. This includes the documentary Low Definition Control – Malfunctions #0, made by Australian director Michael Palm. It's look at surveillance and social behaviour sounds like an interesting subject matter, especially for us living in a time so influenced by Big Brother's all-seeing eye. Another film included in this Pathway is the French differently, Molussia, which the programme describes as "Nine short, individually titled reels of colour 16mm film, which are presented in a random order determined before each screening." The film is based on a text by German philosopher Günther Anders, where the title 'Molussia' is the name of an invented dystopian country under the rule of a totalitarian regime. Such bold and interesting subject matters feature heavily in this year's programme and hopefully this will give the fest an edgier feel than last year.

Also featured prominently are a range of strands focusing on particular international regions – including Denmark, South America and the Philippine's. Although this year's festival may not include many big names (the most famous probably being Robert Carlyle) what you can expect is a programme rich with diverse and thought provoking films which are a must see for any cinephile.

Not only concentrating on foreign cinema, the festival will this year hold the reinstated 'The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film', and for the first time ever documentaries will be competing alongside narrative films in a singe category. The Awards Ceremony will take place on 30 June at the Filmhouse.

Between the14-17 June will be held the annual 'Under the Stars' outdoor screenings of classic and family orientated films, held in the gardens at St Andrew Square – more info on this can be found at www.facebook.com/eeunderthestars.

Tickets for the festival can be booked online at edfilmfest.org.uk, by phone: on 0131 623 8030 and in person at the Filmhouse and Festival Theatre box offices. Ticket prices include concessions available to students, senior citizens, people registered as disabled, the unemployed and those aged below 18 in full time education. The festival also offers a multi-buy ticket offer, where by purchasing 8-12 tickets in one transaction you will receive a 10% discount and above 13 tickets a full 20% off.